North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Castor Bay duo save life
A Castor Bay couple have been hailed as heros after saving a man’s life when he collapsed with a heart attack.
AJ Hazelhurst and his wife Julie briefly met David Willis, from Meadowbank, while he was jogging in Omaha on the morning of Easter Sunday.
Willis jogged on but a few minutes later the couple came upon him lying face-down on a path.
‘‘Everything just went black and I don’t remember anything after that until I woke up in the Westpac chopper,’’ Willis said.
AJ Hazelhurst said Willis had ‘‘literally hit the pavement with his face’’.
He turned Willis over and immediately began what would become nearly 30 minutes of CPR, while Julie called 111.
Julie also downloaded an app that found the nearest AED defibrillator and discovered one at the Omaha Surf Life Saving Club.
She headed back to the family bach and asked a friend to head to the club and returned to where her husband was continuing CPR.
A lifeguard arrived with the defibrillator, shocked Willis, and Hazelhurst continued CPR.St John paramedics arrived to help and called for the Auckland Westpac rescue helicopter.
Willis visited the Auckland rescue helicopter base on September 28 to thank some of those involved in saving his life.
‘‘Every time I look at my kids I remember that day and everybody who kept me alive,’’ the father of two said.
Over lots of banter, hugs and handshakes the group pieced together what had happened for Willis, who had little recollection.
Willis told Hazelhurst the MRI head at Auckland City Hospital said he had never seen a heart get 30 minutes of CPR and not be bruised, scarred or have heart damage and broken or bruised ribs.
Hazelhurst, a consultant director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, had done a CPR course two months before.
He praised the 111 operator who had coached him through CPR aspects and validated what he learnt.
Westpac advanced paramedic Chris Deacon said the helicopter crew would have been completely ineffective if it hadn’t been for the
‘‘It was that first shock. That's when his heart started again and the point when his life was saved’’
- Paramedic Chris Deacon
people there before them. He praised the Hazelhurst’s for the CPR and for thinking of finding an AED.
‘‘It was that first shock. That’s when his heart started again and the point when his life was saved.’’
HEMS doctor Emily Junck praised the two St John paramedics for their complete control over the situation and efficient handover.
She gave Willis medication to stabilise his heart and the crew quickly got him on the the helicopter. ‘‘We were worried about a pretty major heart defect,’’ she said.
Willis spent three days in the ICU, underwent a quintuple bypass, and spent more than two weeks in hospital.
Other former patients will meet those who helped them when Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust holds its second Rescue Reunion event on November 5.